Former Facebook policy executive sues Meta over gag order on memoir
Sarah Wynn-Williams says Meta used arbitration and public monitoring to stop her from discussing “Careless People”; Meta says she broke a severance pact.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Facebook policy executive, has sued Meta in federal court over restrictions she says are being used to stop her from talking about her memoir, “Careless People.” The case matters because it pits Meta’s use of a severance agreement and private arbitration against a former insider’s claims that the company is trying to curb speech about its leadership and conduct.
The complaint, filed Thursday in federal court in Northern California, says an arbitration order barring Wynn-Williams from discussing Meta or promoting her book should be declared invalid. The lawsuit also says the severance agreement she signed when she left the company, including a promise not to disparage Meta, should be set aside because she signed it under duress.
Wynn-Williams worked at Facebook, now part of Meta Platforms Inc., as director of global public policy from 2011 until she was fired in 2017, according to the Associated Press. Her memoir describes alleged misconduct and troubling behavior by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other senior executives, and it says Zuckerberg sought to cultivate ties with Chinese officials, the AP reported.
Meta has rejected Wynn-Williams’ account. In a statement, the company said its former employee is using litigation to sell books and said an arbitrator had already found that she violated the agreement she signed when she accepted a severance payment. Meta called the book disparaging, inaccurate and false.
According to the lawsuit, Meta is seeking $50,000 for each alleged breach of the non-disparagement agreement. Wynn-Williams says that threat has put her under financial pressure and is part of an effort to prevent her from speaking publicly about the company or the book.
The complaint says Meta obtained an emergency gag order that applies to Wynn-Williams and her lawyers. Under that order, the lawsuit says, they cannot criticize Meta or promote “Careless People.”
Wynn-Williams also claims in the lawsuit that Meta monitored her for more than a year after the book came out. The complaint says company representatives went to her public events, took photographs of her and documented that she did not speak about Meta or her memoir at those appearances.
In one example cited in the lawsuit, Meta objected to Wynn-Williams attending an arts and literary festival in the United Kingdom earlier this year. The complaint says she appeared on a panel but did not speak, while other participants on the panel were critics of Meta.
Wynn-Williams is asking the court to lift the arbitration order and void her severance agreement with Meta. The lawsuit frames the dispute as a free-speech fight over whether Meta can enforce private restrictions against a former executive who wrote about her time inside the company.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.